PLO Official Rules out Statehood Declaration on September 13A senior Palestinian official said Monday in Cairo that the Palestinians may not declare an independent state on September 13 as they have previously planned.September 13 is not "a sacred date," and since the Palestinians and Israel will continue their negotiations the Palestinians are unlikely to declare a state that day, said Farouk al Kadoumy, director of the political department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is going to New York to meet with United States President Bill Clinton and discuss with him ways of seeking breakthroughs in the Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations, Kadoumy told a news conference after the 114th session of the Arab League Foreign Ministers Council held in the Egyptian capital. Arafat and Clinton are due to meet on the sidelines of the United Nations Millennium Summit on Wednesday. The PLO's 129-member central council are reportedly to meet in Gaza on September 9 and 10 to review the Palestinians' commitment to declare statehood on September 13. Palestinian officials have already suggested the move could be deferred. Kadoumy also said it is not Arafat's job, but a job of an Arab summit to declare an end to the conflict with Israel. Arafat can not proclaim an end to the conflict because it is a decision that should be taken by an Arab summit, he said. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has said several times that a final peace accord with the Palestinians must include a statement declaring an end to their conflict which has lasted over half a century. |
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